


infinity, and beyond

by lyricalprose (fairylights)



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who & Related Fandoms, Doctor Who (2005), Toy Story (1995)
Genre: F/M, Gen, Toy Story AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-07-13
Updated: 2013-07-13
Packaged: 2017-12-19 08:58:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 615
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/881916
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fairylights/pseuds/lyricalprose
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Doctor’s painted eyebrows furrow together in an expression of supreme frustration. “Rose.” He’s nearly snarling in his anger. “You. Are. A. <i>Toy.</i>”</p>
            </blockquote>





	infinity, and beyond

They are underneath Russell’s mum’s car, parked at some petrol station in the middle of nowhere, and Rose has never seen the Doctor this angry before.

“What’s the matter?” she snaps at him. “I thought you were all about _adventure_.”  

The Doctor’s painted eyebrows furrow together in an expression of supreme frustration. “Rose.” He’s nearly snarling in his anger. “You. Are. A. _Toy._ ”

Rose scowls, and starts working at a piece of gum that’s gotten stuck in her yellow plastic hair, somewhere in between tumbling out of the car and rolling underneath it. “So are _you_ , Doctor.”

He splutters for a moment, and then all of a sudden he sort of – deflates. The anger leaks away abruptly, like air out of a untied balloon. “Yes, but–“ He waves his arms around ineffectually, for a moment, searching for words. “–Rose, I’m _old_.”

“So?” The gum is not coming loose, and Rose gives up with a huff. “So you’re an old toy. What’s that got to do with anything?”

“I’ve been broken and put back together so many times that it hardly matters anymore.” The Doctor holds up one of his delicate cloth hands, tugs down the sleeve of his suit to reveal a line of tiny, careful stitches around his wrist. “This hand? Not my original one. This face?” He waves at his intricately sewn and painted face, a masterpiece of detail work that Rose sort of envies, compared to her mass-produced plastic one. “Not my original one, either.”

He runs a hand through his mess of brown yarn hair, tangling it even more than it already is. “But you’re practically _brand new_ , Rose, and if you go around falling out of windows and hopping out of cars – if you keep _wandering off_ , you’re going to get yourself _broken_ , or worse–” He shakes his head. “– _lost_.”

Rose rolls her eyes. “Oh, like you can talk, Mr. Adventures in Time and _Stairs_. You didn’t seem to have any problem sneaking out of the bedroom with me yesterday – or to the kitchen the day before that, or the linen closet, or the back garden, or the garage, or the sitting room, and that one was in _daylight_ , while Russell’s _mum_ was home–”

She’s counting out their many risky escapades on her fingers, about to move from one hand to the other, when both their heads snap upwards – towards the sounds of a door slamming shut and an engine revving to life.

There’s barely any time to do anything. Rose makes an aborted attempt to sprint towards the edge of the car, but she only has time for a few steps before it’s peeled out and away from the petrol station. It’s only a few seconds before they’re left standing alone there on the asphalt, dumbstruck and dazed under the harsh fluorescent lights.

The Doctor looks a little paralyzed, staring after the car’s taillights as they fade into the darkness of the road. Rose feels a little numb herself – but there’s a bit of excitement in it too, the way there always is when she and the Doctor go somewhere they know they shouldn’t. It’s the expedition to the sitting room writ large, and suddenly the world feels _impossibly_ big, almost too enormous to comprehend.

Then the Doctor clears his throat audibly, breaking the tense silence. “Well.” he says quietly, with the air of a man composing himself. “May not have been looking for it, but I’d say adventure’s found us.” He looks at her and offers first a hesitant smile, then a hand stretched out in her direction. “Care to join me?”

Rose grins, slips her plastic hand into his cloth one, and squeezes gently. “Count me in.”


End file.
